RHINOCEROS
Next Theatre Company
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Rhinoceros premiered in Germany in 1959 and subsequently enjoyed tremendously successful runs in Paris, London, and New York. It has often been interpreted as an allegory about the spread of Nazism through Europe. But in his staging of this highly stylized play, Next Theatre Company director (and translator) Dexter Bullard strives to play up the universality of Ionesco’s vision. A program note by dramaturge Davin Auble puts the play in the context of American society today: “Since Ionesco’s first diagnosis of the disease, how many outbreaks of rhinoceritis have erupted under our very noses?”
Ionesco lampoons the superficial side of French discourse, which meanders off into meaninglessness despite its clean “but of course I am right” tone. His humor requires a precise and exaggerated style based on the French society it mocks. Bullard (who has proven himself one of Chicago’s finest directors) achieves some of this exaggeration through slick lighting effects by Robert G. Smith, slide projections by Stephan Mazurek, and a fantastic soundscape by David Zerlin. But for the most part his cast overlook their characters’ Frenchness and so miss the germ of the play. Their characters are superficial but in a painfully American way.
The love stories are what make this play work. Brown takes a very careful approach in this production, with accurate sets (by Ellen Schaeffer) and costumes and a technically solid cast who look their parts. Most of the ensemble members are strong actors individually, but they don’t seem to like or trust one another. When it was time to get angry they made a fine show of emotion, but when it came to exhibiting a little love and tenderness their actions rang hollow. Good love stories require passion, and passion is what is missing from this production.
